Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell was awarded a Special Tony Award June 7; in his speech, he thanked both his parents and the late Jack Steeb, his long-term partner.

John Cameron Mitchell
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

"This is for you guys and for Jack Steeb," Mitchell said. Steeb, who was the bass player in the band Cheater with Hedwig collaborator Stephen Trask and partner to Mitchell for six years, passed away ten years ago.

Mitchell also thanked his parents: "Dad, who’s passed on, who taught me how to be a leader and taught me that beauty was a metaphor to help you think that you could be good," he said. "And for my mother, who taught me to be an artist and gave me my best jokes."